


the real thing

by mainvocalrocky (infinityxu)



Series: seventeen sickfic/injury/etc requests 2019 [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Appendicitis, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sick Character, Sickfic, Vomiting, boys crying, these boys really love their maknae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 22:39:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18678769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinityxu/pseuds/mainvocalrocky
Summary: Chan has no idea that his appendix is what's giving him so much trouble - to him, it's just a harmless stomachache, and he certainly isn't going to burden his hyungs with something like that.





	the real thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinee4exo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinee4exo/gifts), [zeea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeea/gifts).



> hi everyone! i've combined three requests for this one, hope ya'll don't mind!
> 
> Requester: “shinee4exo”  
> → “Please may I request one for Dino.  
> As for plot, could it be that he wakes up feeling a bit sore and with a stomach ache, but he pins it down to being a tummy bug and ignores it for the most part. But when it comes to that evening, the other members start to notice that he's struggling to walk properly and keeps holding his belly, so they put him to bed and take care of him. In the middle of the night, he wakes up sobbing and they decide to take him to hospital, where it turns out he has appendicitis.  
> I don't mind if you stop it there, or write about him being in hospital too ^^”
> 
> Requester: “zeea”  
> → “Dino with all his hyung.... Story about anything but dino centric i really looking for dino but i can find just a little.. Please write anything about dino and his hyungs... Thank you :)”
> 
> Requester: “Illymaisara” (anon)  
> → “I love myself some dino with all his hyungs pliss plot is up to youu we need more dino with his hyungs fanfic”
> 
> This turned out a lot longer than i intended it to be, but i had a lot of fun writing it!! I hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing ♥ I love the chan/everyone dynamic lol~

Chan couldn’t fully comprehend what was wrong when he started waking up.

 

He was hardly awake at all, at first, only vaguely aware of a dull pain somewhere on his body, below his shoulders. He tried his best to ignore the pain and just lull himself back to sleep, but the more awake he became, the worse it started to feel. His mouth even forced out an involuntary whine, and at that point, he realized he needed to actually wake himself.

 

Once he was finally awake enough to open his eyes, he was becoming more aware of what the pain was. It was in his stomach, he realized, but it was some sort of odd mix of dull physical pain and serious nausea.

 

He curled up into himself, arms tightly wrapped around his belly in an attempt to ignore the pain, whines suppressed so he didn’t wake anyone. This happened sometimes, if he ate something bad, or if he just wasn’t feeling well that say, and lying there usually helped. So he would just have to hope for the best.

 

The nausea persisted for a while, but after a couple of minutes, he found himself asleep again, thankfully - but it didn’t seem to last very long, because soon enough, he was awake again. This time, with Junhui hovering over Chan’s bed.

 

“You okay, Channie?” Junhui asked him softly, kneeling beside the bed, worry poured into his tone. Chan didn’t have a ton of time to properly react. It felt like he had only been asleep for a few minutes, but the lights were all on, and Junhui was fully dressed. Was it morning already? “You sounding like you were whining, are you in pain? What happened?”

 

Chan tried to push himself into a sitting position. The nausea was still there - not as bad as before, but it wasn’t the kind of nausea that Chan could just ignore. But clearly, Junhui had realized something was wrong enough to look as concerned as he did. Chan felt kind of bad for making him worry in the first place.

 

“I’m okay, hyung. I just - my stomach hurts. It's not a big deal, though.” Chan murmured, almost surprised with himself that he'd admitted that so easily. But he couldn't lie to Junhui, especially with that face he was making. Chan criss-crossed his legs on the bed, sneaking a hand under his t-shirt and pressing into the side of his belly as he stared at his sheets, a little too embarrassed to look Junhui in the eye. “I might just be sore from yesterday, actually.”

 

Junhui moved up a little more, a hand on Chan’s chin to lift his head a little bit, which then fell to his knee to rub for a moment. Junhui didn’t do this kind of thing often - only if he was genuinely worried. And his hand was shaking. “Chan, if you think it’s what Wonwoo had, we need to - ”

 

“No, hyung, it's not. I know that'd hurt a lot more.” Chan assured, placing his hand on Junhui’s. That’s why he was so worried. Wonwoo was better now, his gastritis had been gone for about a month now, and he was slowly going back to normal. He’d concluded that it was a mix of stress and taking pain medication too persistently for just minor headaches that caused it to begin with - it wasn’t contagious, and this had just started last night for Chan. It couldn’t be gastritis at all.

 

But he understood his worry. Junhui had even cried over Wonwoo, more than once - he was so horribly worried about him, they all were. That was the first time something so serious had happened in their group. No wonder Junhui’s hands were shaking at the thought of Chan having the same thing.

 

“Are you sure, Channie? If you’re feeling sick, take some medicine, at least.” Junhui told him worriedly. “Do you need to stay home today? I can tell Seungcheol. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem - ”

 

“Hyung - hyung, I’m really fine. I don’t want to miss out on a fansign ‘cause of a stomach ache.” Chan told him, and he was sure Junhui felt the same thing. He was sure they’d all gone to fansigns feeling unwell before. None of them wanted to miss out on seeing Carats unless it was really serious.

 

“What’s going on? Is Channie okay?”

 

Chan felt his chest tighten when he heard another voice - he didn’t want this to get out to more than one person, he didn’t want to worry anyone.

 

It was Soonyoung, this time - half dressed and with a toothbrush in his mouth. He loved his hyung, a lot, and he didn’t want to lie to him, but he knew that Soonyoung would make the biggest fuss out of this than anyone else in their whole group. He fussed over his dongsaengs over just minor things, even.  _ Especially  _ Chan.

 

“Oh - he’s okay. He said he’s just sore, and, had trouble waking up because of it.” Junhui explained, a little awkwardly - he was caught off guard, and a little less suave than he thought he was, but Chan appreciated the effort and nodded in Soonyoung’s direction. He knew how Soonyoung was, too.

 

Soonyoung pouted, pulling his toothbrush out of his mouth. “Do you need something for it? Is it painful?”

 

“No, hyung, I’m fine. See?” Chan promised him, moving past Junhui to stand up, as normally as he could pretend to - but the second he did, the nausea hit him again.

 

He just kept sliming, though. Soonyoung had no idea, and that’s how Chan wanted to keep it. The last thing he wanted was to worry more of his hyungs.

 

“Okay, but if it gets worse, you let me know. Got it?” Soonyoung said just before stuffing his toothbrush back in his mouth, giving Chan a little glare and pointing at him, to get his point across. Chan gave a little nod, and with that, Soonyoung disappeared from the room again.

 

Chan gave Junhui a silent little thank you, and Junhui seemed to silently tell him back the same thing that Soonyoung had said. Chan wouldn’t tell him how nauseous he was feeling now - it wasn’t that big of a deal, really.

 

He’d be fine.

* * *

 

 

He wasn’t fine.

 

He felt  _ really  _ sick. And not the kind of sick where he just needed a tissue, but like he was going to throw up if things kept going on like this, and that was a truly horrible feeling to have when they were in the middle of a fansign, where he couldn’t hide, or even leave without fans or members noticing.

 

He had managed to hide most of how he felt from his members, and it seemed that even Junhui and Soonyoung had forgotten at that point - for the most part, anyway. He kind of wished he didn’t. This must have been a stomach bug or something, so maybe it would have been better if he stayed home.

 

He had an arm wrapped tightly around his belly, hoping that putting pressure on it might calm it down a little. The table covered it, thankfully, so none of the fans noticed - but the members could. And he was pretty sure one of them had.

 

Jihoon was eyeing him every now and then, his eyes squinted suspiciously. Chan had a feeling that Jihoon must have known what was going on - Chan’s attempts to keep his nausea at bay didn’t leave much to the imagination as to what could be wrong, after all.

 

As soon as the Carat in front of Chan moved on, and the one before Jihoon lingered a bit longer with Mingyu, Jihoon leaned over and whispered to him. “You don’t look good, Chan, is everything okay?” he asked, keeping his expression as stoic as possible. He didn’t want anyone to pick up on what was going on.

 

“I’m okay. I think it’s just…” he trailed off, feeling a wave of nausea hit him much harder than it had previously, causing him to even lean over for a second. Jihoon was clearly worried, now, a hand on Chan’s knee.

 

Chan realized he was going to have to get out of here, or else he would vomit on the table. In front of everyone.

 

He struggled to pull the chair out so he could get out of the row, and he started to realize how much he was panicking, how much worse that was making it.  _ Everyone  _ was staring - from the moment he suddenly sat up, to the moment he stumbled backstage to where no one could see him.

 

A few of the staff members seemed to realize what was going on with him without even asking - as soon as he sat down on the little couch in the back, curled up, one of them handed him a trash bin, and he took it right away - breathing heavily over it, letting the saliva that pooled into his mouth just fall into the bin as his nausea only grew.

 

God, what he would give to have someone taking care of him right now. Someone rubbing his back, telling him he would be just fine. Chan felt tears welling up in his eyes already.

 

“What’s going on? Channie, what happened?”

 

That was Seungcheol’s voice, sounding horribly worried, kind of shaky, too. A staff member moved for him to sit beside Chan, and he did, a light hand on his back.

 

“Do we need to take you to the hospital?” One of the female staff members asked him, a hand on his shoulder.

 

“No - no,” Chan mumbled, interrupted by a sickly sounding burp that wasn’t helping his case. He didn’t want to go to a hospital. He didn’t need to, this was just a stomachache or indigestion. He was going to be fine. “It's just - I'm just nauseous. I'm fine. I feel fine.”

 

“You don’t look fine at all, Channie.” Seungcheol murmured, his hand rubbing up and down Chan’s back. Chan would only imagine how he looked - miserable, probably, curled up on the edge of the couch, a white-knuckled grip on the trash bin he held. No wonder Seungcheol sounded so concerned. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

 

“No, hyung, I - ”

 

Chan felt all the color drain from his face when his stomach twisted, as if it were a warning. He didn’t want to throw up. God, anything but that - he hated that feeling  _ so much _ . Not only that, but there were so many staff members surrounding him, and Seungcheol, too - if he threw up here, he would  _ have  _ to go home, and he didn’t want to. He didn’t want Carats to know, especially.

 

“Just breathe, Channie. In through your nose, out through your mouth, okay?” Seungcheol told him softly, his hand rubbing deep circles into his back. “Deep breaths. You’ll feel better if you’re calm.”

 

Chan tried to take his advice. In, out. In, out. Deeply. It was hard to ignore how horribly ill he felt, but he had to, Seungcheol was right - and eventually, the only thing he brought up was a wet-sounding burp, and he felt a little better.

 

He put the trash bin down, miserably curling up beside Seungcheol, who continued to rub his back, and give little reassurances even after he wasn’t hunched over the trash bin anymore.

 

“Do you want to stay back here until we’re done?” Seungcheol asked him. “You don’t have to go back out if you’re not up to it.”

 

“No, I feel better now. Really,” Chan promised him, trying to sit up a little bit more to prove his point, still breathing deeply. It was working, a little, but Seungcheol didn’t look entirely convinced. He could see the worry only growing in his eyes, and he imagined all the members outside felt the same way, too. And Carats. Chan didn’t want that - if he stayed back here, or went to the  _ hospital _ , he would only worry everyone more.

 

“Okay...if you’re sure,” Seungcheol said with a nervous little sigh, his hand still on Chan’s back. “What should I say when we get back out? I won’t tell them you’re sick if you don’t want me to.”

 

That was another issue. What would they even say? He didn’t know if they should tell the truth or just make up a lie, but if they lied, what would it be? There weren’t a ton of explanations for what Chan just did either than feeling sick. He could’ve passed it off as just getting something from the back, but it was while fans were still at the table.

 

The stress of it was making his stomach hurt again, but he had to ignore it. “Maybe just - say I had to go to the bathroom or something.”

 

Seungcheol was chewing on his lip, knowing himself that not many of them would believe that with how swiftly and wordlessly he left. But that’s what they did.

 

* * *

 

At this point, Chan could hardly walk without doubling over from the pain. He really thought it was going to die down after he started feeling a little better, but it seemed to hurt twice as much, now. He kept his arms pressed tightly around his belly, afraid that if he let go, he would only feel worse. At this point, he didn’t even care that the other members saw.

 

As they were leaving to the cars, Junhui and Soonyoung noticed right away - Minghao following, his eyes a little wide and confused - worried, too. Chan hated seeing everyone’s expressions like that.

 

Chan forced himself into the van, curled up in the backseat, his head leaned against the window and not even bothering to buckle himself. Minghao followed, taking the seat in front of them, worriedly eyeing him.

 

Minghao wordlessly reached out a hand at some point, and Chan didn’t hesitate to squeeze it. It felt better for him to have something else to focus on, Minghao must have realized that - and Chan was really grateful that he did.

 

“He must have a stomach bug or something,” he heard Soonyoung say outside of the car, and Chan peered over for a moment to see a handful of their members standing outside of the van - Minghao was watching them, too, but he kept his hand squeezed around Chan’s. “I don’t think it’s gastritis. I hope not.”

 

“But he hasn’t thrown up at all, has he? As far as we know, I mean,” Jeonghan’s voice said. “Maybe it’s just indigestion.”

 

“Maybe,” Seungcheol said with a little sigh. “Let’s just go home and see how he feels later with medicine.”

 

Chan was fine. That’s what he tried to tell himself, anyway. He just needed to lie down, or something. He was sure it would be fine after a quick nap. He didn’t want anyone to make a big deal out of this.

 

Eventually, they all dispersed, and Junhui and Soonyoung climbed into the car with them. Junhui sat beside Minghao in the second row, and Soonyoung came to the back with Chan - squeezing the hand that Minghao had let go of, the other hand patting down his hair.

 

Chan was curled up very closely to Soonyoung once they started to drive back to their dorms, which weren’t very far, thankfully. Little pained noises escaped him every now and then, one he couldn’t control. He still wasn't wearing his seat belt, arms tightly wrapped around his bloated midsection - the only thing that was really helping him feel better. The breathing wasn’t working anymore.

 

“My poor baby…” Soonyoung murmured, even pressing a kiss to the side of his head. His voice even sounded pained. “We're gonna get you to bed as soon as we get home. Hopefully we have some sort of medicine to help you…”

 

“I have something that'll help you, Channie. It worked with Wonwoo hyung when he was sick,” Minghao told him from where he sat, turned around in his seat to face them. “You'll feel better soon, it's okay,” he tried to reassure, and god, Chan really hoped that his hyung was right. He hated feeling like this. He loved when his hyungs cared for him, of course he did, but at the same time, he hated that they were worried. They all had so much going on in their own personal lives, and Chan was just making it worse.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t long until they were home. Chan had told Soonyoung that he wished the car ride was longer, for once, because he had found a position that didn’t hurt as much to sit in, and he wanted to stay in the position for as long as he possibly could. Even though it hurt Soonyoung to move him away from that, he knew he’d feel better if he was able to lie somewhere he could sleep.

 

“Do you wanna go to your bed, Channie?” Soonyoung asked him when Chan finally managed to pull himself out of the car. Junhui already went inside to get Chan’s bed ready, and Minghao stood outside of the car with Soonyoung, his arms awkwardly held out in case Chan needed help.

 

Chan gave a tiny little nod, his arms wrapping around his midsection. Soonyoung offered his help, too, but Chan didn’t take it - insisting he could do it himself, starting towards the lobby of the apartment building to get to the elevator.

 

Soonyoung had to decide what to do. He’d seen Chan sick before - he had seen all of them sick before, actually - but this seemed bad. It didn’t look like normal indigestion or a normal stomach bug, but at the same time, it did. Soonyoung wasn’t quite sure what to think.

 

He noticed how hard Chan was trying to focus on something else. He was even holding his breath, even just doing something as simple as scrolling through his phone. It seemed off, Soonyoung thought, but maybe he was just trying not to throw up. Soonyoung couldn’t be sure.

 

Once they were inside, Chan didn’t even bother going the distance to where his room was - he just stopped at the couch and curled himself up as tight as he could, his head resting on his knees.

 

Soonyoung sat beside him as soon as he collapsed on the couch, helping to pull off his shoes and his jacket, even though Chan protested against too much movement. Minghao had disappeared into his own room to grab the medicine that he was talking about, and Junhui was still seemingly getting Chan’s bed ready for him - however, Soonyoung was almost positive that Chan wasn’t going to be moving off of the couch.

 

“How are you feeling, Channie?” Jeonghan asked worriedly as he passed by, standing beside the couch and patting Chan’s head. Soonyoung could see the deep concern in his eyes. He saw Hansol approach eventually, too, but he didn’t come too close - he didn’t usually like to crowd people when something was wrong because he couldn’t stand that himself. But there was just as much concern in his eyes as there was in Jeonghan’s.

 

Clearly, they were all terrified that it was gastritis, but none of them wanted to say it.

 

Chan only shook his head in response to Jeonghan’s question, curling into himself a little more, and leaning into Soonyoung, effectively breaking Soonyoung’s heart.

 

Minghao appeared after a few minutes to sit on the coffee table with a little packet to dip in a cup of water, and he mixed it in with a straw. Soonyoung wasn’t sure exactly what it was - Minghao had all kinds of natural Chinese medicine stashed away in his room - he had something for everything. Soonyoung couldn’t read what was any of the packets, but Minghao always kept himself in pretty good health, so Soonyoung trusted him.

 

Minghao sheepishly handed the glass to Chan, lowering his head to make eye contact with Chan. But Chan didn’t move.

 

“Channie, it’ll help you feel better.” Minghao insisted, his tone sad, but Chan still didn’t go for it - he stayed where he was, and eventually, Minghao placed the glass back onto the coffee table.

 

Jeonghan turned the television on as he took a seat on the floor, talking to Chan every now and then to keep him distracted. Minghao disappeared into Chan’s room - eventually coming out with Junhui and Seungkwan, who both looked equally as worried. Seungkwan looked like he was about to cry, but Minghao managed to talk him down.

 

Eventually, a handful of them had gathered in the living room - Minghao, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Junhui, Hansol, Seungcheol, and Joshua. The rest of them were either getting ready for bed, already asleep or hanging around somewhere else. They kept their distance to make sure they weren’t crowding Chan, because it seemed like he didn’t want to talk to any of them or acknowledge how he was feeling. Soonyoung moved to the kitchen to get a snack for himself and Minghao took Soonyoung’s spot for that moment, so he still had some comfort, at least.

 

They all silently exchanged glances, thoughts. No one was paying attention to the television at this point, only looking towards Chan or the others. Soonyoung was eying the older members, wondering if they had any idea what they should do or how they should help him, but they looked just as lost as Soonyoung felt.

 

When Soonyoung walked back into the living room, Chan wasn’t curled up in a ball anymore, but his arms were still tightly wrapped around his belly. Minghao worriedly looked over him, a hand on his back, and he asked something too quiet for Soonyoung to hear.

 

“Channie, what’s wrong?” Soonyoung asked him softly as he approached the front of the couch, taking a spot at the coffee table so he was in front of Chan.

 

“I think...I think I might throw up,” Chan whimpered, still halfway leaned over himself, breathing deep and heavy.

 

It seemed that at least Jeonghan was expecting that because he had a trash bin within arms reach pretty quickly, standing beside him and holding it under Chan’s chin, as he breathed into it - fully expecting to vomit.

 

Minghao kept his hand on Chan's back, but his eyes went up in the opposite direction as soon as Chan started vomiting. Soonyoung didn't blame him. Minghao was really squeamish when it came to this kind of thing - and usually wouldn’t be found anywhere near the site. Soonyoung wasn't even sure how he was handling hearing Chan's retching right next to him, but he stayed despite all of that. He was just as worried as everyone else, if not more.

 

It didn’t last very long, and after a few minutes of it being over, Chan curled back up into a ball, hiding his face from all of them, clearly embarrassed and overwhelmed. His breaths were quick and shaky, and he really didn’t seem to be doing well at all.

 

“It’s okay...you’ll be just fine,” Jeonghan tried to reassure him, moving the trashcan away and trading places with Minghao to sit beside him, his hand making slow, circular motions into Chan’s back. He whimpered, and the sound broke Soonyoung’s heart - something about this felt wrong.

 

“I think you should try lying down in your bed, Channie,” Junhui told him softly, and Chan groaned weakly in response, but he didn't object when Junhui lifted him off of the couch.

 

Junhui carried him to their room without much of a problem, disappearing behind the door with Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and Hansol following closely behind.

 

“I feel like we should take him to the doctor, or something. Just to be sure.” Soonyoung said, a little shocked by how shaky his voice came out. “I’m just...I’m worried it’s what Wonwoo had.”

 

“But gastritis isn’t contagious,” Joshua commented, sounding a little unsure, but Seungcheol gave a nod to back him up.

 

“Gastritis?”

 

Soonyoung hadn’t seen Wonwoo since they had left the venue from the fansign, but he appeared almost out of nowhere as they had their conversation. His hair was wet and Soonyoung guessed he had just showered - he probably didn’t have any idea what was going on.

 

“Chan’s sick, and Soonyoung’s worried that’s what it could be. But I don’t think it is,” Seungcheol explained to him. “It just looks like a normal stomach bug to me.”

 

“Yeah...what Wonwoo hyung had was different,” Minghao commented from where he sat on the coffee table, the drink he’d made for Chan in his hands. Seungcheol looked over to him and motioned for him to get off the table - it was made of glass, and they weren’t supposed to sit on it, but Minghao usually would because he hardly weighed anything, and Seungcheol knew that. Soonyoung figured he was just doing things to get his mind off of the situation, but it made Soonyoung kind of angry. He was focusing more on the damn coffee table than their youngest member, who was clearly very sick.

 

Minghao stood up without another word, though, and disappeared into the room where Chan was, the drink still in hand.

 

“I mean, I got it because of the pain meds I was using. Or, over-using...” Wonwoo started, his eyes watching Minghao as he left - not really looking at any of the members in the living room. “Channie doesn’t really take meds for anything, right?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Joshua answered. “You, Jeonghan and Minghao are the only ones who regularly take things. I haven’t noticed Chan taking anything recently.”

 

Soonyoung was getting pretty frustrated with how the conversation was going. Why was the idea of taking Chan to the doctor such a big issue? “But, that’s not the only cause of gastritis, I’m pretty sure. And, what if it’s something equally as bad - ”

 

“We’ll see how he does through the night, okay?” Seungcheol huffed, sounding slightly frustrated himself. Soonyoung puffed, wanting to argue, but deciding not too. “There’s no need to put him through all of that right now if it’s just a virus. I know you’re worried, but this kind of thing happens all the time, Soonie,” he explained, and Joshua nodded in agreement. Soonyoung couldn’t help but think he added the pet name to be passive-aggressive.

 

Soonyoung looked to Wonwoo, secretly hoping the younger would back him up, but he just shrugged. Probably accepting that they couldn’t really argue with Seungcheol.

 

Soonyoung huffed in frustration.

 

“If we end up having to take him to the hospital, I’m holding that against you,” he grumbled, not even looking at Seungcheol before he turned and disappeared back to where Chan was.

 

* * *

 

Chan had somewhat fallen asleep by the time Soonyoung had come back to the room, which Soonyoung had to sigh at relief at. At least he was feeling better enough to be able to fall asleep, or at least get comfortable in his bed - but the poor kid was still curled up beneath the blanket, his face contorted in discomfort, and with a bit of a fever too, according to Junhui.

 

Minghao said that Chan drank a bit of the medicine that Minghao had given to him, but he said he felt to sick to drink more than a few sips. It was better than nothing, but Soonyoung still worried.

 

Soonyoung couldn’t fall asleep. His bed was across from Chan’s, and they both slept on the lower part of the bunk bed - so even though Soonyoung was lying down and comfortable, he didn’t take his eyes off of their baby. Or that’s what he tried to do, at least.

 

He was starting to drift off after a while, and his eyes began to come to a close, too. He was exhausted. Worrying was very exhausting, especially when it was starting to become frustrating. 

 

His brain didn’t quite comprehend it at first, but he heard a sudden cry of pain from the other side of the room. He thought he had imagined it at first, because afterward, it was quiet, but the sobs started after a few moments of silence.

 

Soonyoung immediately leaped from his bed, nearly tripping over someone’s headphones on the floor - probably Hansol’s, damn that kid - to get to where Chan was. He was curled up tightly again, the sheets tangled around his legs and pushed away from him. 

 

Soonyoung could see very well how much pain his dongsaeng was in, just by looking at his face - not even taking into account how thick his tears were. His arms seemed to blindly reach out for something to hold, and Soonyoung offered his hands, which Chan proceeded to squeeze as tight as he could.

 

Soonyoung was crying too.

 

It wasn’t long until the others noticed. Someone turned on the lights - Junhui, Soonyoung realized - and stood behind him, worriedly hovering. Wonwoo climbed out eventually, too, and Hansol watched from his bed, his eyes wide with concern. He knew something was wrong. Soonyoung did too. Something was very wrong.

 

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt that bad, Channie?” Soonyoung asked him softly, trying to keep his voice as even and as calm as he possibly could. Chan wasn’t listening to him - he didn’t even physically respond, let alone acknowledge that Soonyoung had said anything. Regardless, Soonyoung tried to calm him, pushing his bangs from his eyes, pressing kisses to his hands.

 

Junhui leaned in for a moment to press a hand to Chan’s forehead, sighing shakily as soon as he did. “He’s burning up,” Junhui murmured, and Soonyoung nodded, already able to tell that by feeling his clammy hands.

 

“I feel really bad, hyung…” Chan choked through his sobs, his tears refusing to come to a stop. “It hurts so _ bad _ , I…” he whimpered suddenly again, curling in closer, the color draining from his already pale cheeks.

 

“He needs a hospital - like, right now,” Wonwoo said from behind them. Soonyoung turned his head to look at him - Wonwoo’s arms were crossed over his chest, his eyes trying valiantly to hold back tears. “He’s in serious pain, that’s not right. That’s not a normal stomach bug.”

 

Soonyoung knew he was right. Chan wouldn’t be hurting his bad if Seungcheol had just listened to him earlier. Soonyoung grit his teeth.

 

“Should I go get Seungcheol hyung? Maybe he can - ”

 

“No. No, we can take him to the hospital, I can drive one of the manager’s cars. I know where they keep the keys. And besides, the fewer of us that go, the better.” Soonyoung spat back at Junhui, who certainly didn’t seem to be expecting that kind of response from him. “So whoever decides to come, make sure you’re super quiet when we leave.”

 

No one argued. Normally, Junhui would try to keep Soonyoung in line if he was angry, so Soonyoung expected him to try to reason with him - but right now, he seemed too scared to say anything else. So he didn’t.

 

And with that, the five of them snuck out of the dorm, Junhui carrying Chan in his arms.

 

* * *

 

Soonyoung started crying again as soon as they got to the hospital. Junhui and Wonwoo were already on their way inside with Chan, and Hansol stayed behind with Soonyoung, trying to comfort him.

 

“He’s gonna be okay, hyung. It’s not like he’ll die or anything.” Hansol tried. The kid wasn’t very good with words, but he didn’t seem nearly as afraid as Soonyoung was - he was level headed, calm, and Soonyoung kind of envied him for that. Soonyoung couldn’t even remember what calm felt like.

 

“I just...he’s in so much pain,” Soonyoung mumbled through a sob, remembering just hearing Chan’s cries on their way there, how much it hurt him. How much it hurt him for them to have to pull over for Chan to stumble out of the car to vomit. “I should’ve - I should’ve argued with Seungcheol, Channie wouldn’t be hurting this much if I just - ”

 

“But you can’t change that now, hyung. It already happened,” Hansol reminded him.

 

Hansol was right. Soonyoung couldn’t change what already happened, and he needed to accept that.

 

He leaned forward out of the driver’s seat to hug Hansol, tightly - he just needed a hug, really - and Hansol didn’t hesitate to hug him back. He didn’t say anything, but Soonyoung didn’t expect him to.

 

And with that, they locked the badly parked car and headed for the emergency room entrance.

 

They had already gotten Chan to one of the cots, and the poor kid was throwing up again, into one of those pink bowls the hospitals always had - Wonwoo was holding it to his mouth, and Junhui was holding Chan’s hand. Soonyoung didn’t understand how Chan even had anything left in him to bring back up.

 

There was a nurse with them already, asking questions to both of Soonyoung’s same-age friends as Soonyoung and Hansol approached.

 

“Does he have any pain in the lower right side of his abdomen?” The nurse asked after looking up from her clipboard, and all four of the boys hovering over the cot looked at each other, unsure. Chan nodded.

 

“Wait, what? Does that mean something?” Wonwoo asked, nearly dropping the bowl that he held for Chan.

 

“It’s a sign of appendicitis, but we can’t be sure just from looking. It is very common, though.” The nurse explained, her voice so calm it almost made Soonyoung angry.

 

“What...what is that?” Junhui asked sheepishly, patting down Chan’s hair, somewhat out of nervousness, Soonyoung realized. He saw him squeeze Chan’s hand a little tighter.

 

“It’s the inflammation of the appendix, an organ in the lower right side of your abdomen. It can be surgically removed with a simple procedure.” The nurse went on, taking the bowl from Wonwoo’s hand once it seemed that Chan was finished vomiting.

 

“Surgery? He needs  _ surgery _ ?” Soonyoung almost snapped at her, his hands gripping the rail of the cot. Hansol squeezed Soonyoung’s wrist, silently telling him to calm down. Soonyoung almost found himself throwing Hansol’s hand off of him.

 

The nurse just nodded, unfazed by Soonyoung’s behavior. “Again, we can’t be sure that he has appendicitis just yet, but if he does, yes, it would require surgery.”

 

Soonyoung felt like he was going to pass out. He was really just expecting that they just take Chan to the hospital, the doctors would give him some sort of magical healing medicine and then they could take him home and he would feel better. And he could rub it in Seungcheol’s face afterward.

 

But this was a lot more serious than that.  _ Surgery.  _ Oh, fuck.

 

“We can take him back to do a CT scan to verify whether it’s appendicitis or not, and if it is, we’ll update you further on that. Okay?” The nurse said with a friendly but blank smile, and Wonwoo was the first to nod to confirm. And with that, she disappeared.

 

Chan whimpered in pain as soon as she was gone. He weakly reached forward and Wonwoo seemed to immediately understand what he needed, and he passed him the bowl Chan was vomiting into earlier - only for him to start again.

 

“We have to tell Seungcheol. Or a manager. Someone.” Wonwoo nearly growled, his voice low and his eyes glaring at Soonyoung.

 

Soonyoung grit his teeth, gripping the railing even harder than before. “Seungcheol didn’t even - this is  _ his  _ fault, Wonwoo, he’s - ”

 

“Don’t even start with me, Soonyoung. Stop being so damn petty for no reason. This is serious, this isn’t some stupid game for you to get mad about.” Wonwoo snapped at him, his voice still low and quiet, but eyes locked onto Soonyoung. Soonyoung was almost afraid of him. Junhui seemed afraid too - looking back and forth from Chan and Wonwoo, eyes wild either way. “I’m gonna tell him whether you get your head out of your ass or not.”

 

“No, I - I’ll tell him. I will. I just…” Soonyoung gave in, feeling slightly defeated, and then guilty for feeling that way at all. Wonwoo was right. His was serious, and Soonyoung knew that. “I’ll wait until we know for sure what’s going on. Okay?”

 

Wonwoo sighed, but he nodded. Soonyoung was glad that the situation was diffused.

 

It didn’t take long for the nurse to return with some more medical personnel to take Chan back to get a CT scan. Chan wasn’t even able to fully comprehend what was going on - his eyes were foggy and half-lidded, and he wasn’t even able to respond to Soonyoung’s goodbye when they wheeled him away. God, it broke his heart.

 

Hansol urged them to follow him to the waiting room area - which was empty for the most part, thankfully.

 

They came back not long after to let them know that they would need to perform an appendectomy, and Soonyoung was sure he would be holding his breath under it was over.

 

They said it was a very common procedure, and it wouldn’t take long, but it still left all of them on edge.

 

Junhui looked incredibly overwhelmed, too, his eyes darting around to the others - looking tempted to say something, but he didn’t dare at first. Soonyoung raised a brow at him at first, but he quickly realized that the latter probably didn’t quite understand what the nurses were telling them - those words weren’t ones that normal people used in everyday conversation, and Junhui had probably never even been to a Korean hospital before. He really must have been confused.

 

“What’s happening?” Junhui asked, his voice shaky as he took a seat in one of the chairs. His hands were shaking, too, one tightly gripping his thigh. “I don’t get what she was saying, why is - why are they - is Chan okay? What are they doing to him?” Junhui was really working himself up, Soonyoung realized, and Soonyoung had been so caught up in how angry he was that he didn’t bother addressing Junhui at all, or even acknowledging how confused he must have been.

 

Junhui’s anxiety always made these situations a lot worse for him - the more anxious he would get, the harder it was to comprehend Korean. Soonyoung couldn’t even imagine what that was like for him.

 

“Junnie, calm down,” Wonwoo told him carefully, taking a seat beside him, pulling both of Junhui’s hands into his own grip and squeezing them tightly. “They’re...his appendix. It’s an organ, like, a part of your body,” he told him, pressing a pair of their hands to Junhui’s lower right abdomen to demonstrate. Junhui froze up for a second but still gave him a shaky nod. “They said that it’s inflamed, so...swollen, kind of? But, worse. They have to take it out so it doesn’t hurt him anymore. That’s all.” Wonwoo’s voice was calm and slow, just like it normally was, and the way he spoke looked like it was calming Junhui down at first - but now, his breaths just shakier.

 

Junhui swallowed, his eyes tearing up quickly. “He - I knew since this morning that he didn’t feel good, and I should’ve...I should’ve told someone, this is my fault, this wouldn’t have happened - ” he cried, leaning forward for Wonwoo, and Wonwoo didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him.

 

Soonyoung froze.

 

He was the one who had walked in on them in the morning.

 

How had he not connected those dots? Junhui had just told him that Chan was sore, and Soonyoung had brushed it off as nothing because being sore wasn’t unheard of at all, in a group full of dancers.

 

“Stop that. He would have had to get it removed no matter what, no matter what time we took him to the hospital, okay? It’s not your fault. It’s not  _ anyone’s  _ fault, Junnie,” Wonwoo told him softly, still holding him close to his chest. Hansol had taken the seat on the other side of Junhui, a hand on his shoulder.

 

Wonwoo was right. Even if any of them had found out earlier, before Chan was even in pain, that wouldn’t have stopped his appendix from getting inflamed. They couldn’t have done anything to prevent it, and that was the truth. Chan would be in the hospital no matter what. He’d be under the knife no matter what.

 

At first, that was comforting, but after a few moments of thinking about it, Soonyoung burst into tears again.

 

Soonyoung didn’t hesitate to join the group hug that was happening across from him. They all needed it.

* * *

 

 

Soonyoung finally sat himself down in one of the chairs, after a few minutes of staring down Seungcheol’s contact information. Soonyoung’s eyes hurt from crying, and his voice was nearly hoarse from the same reason, but he needed to call Seungcheol.

 

“Hyung?” he murmured quietly as soon as Seungcheol picked up the phone. He heard a groan from their leader.

 

“ _ Soonyoung? It’s like...three in the morning. Why on earth are you… _ ” Seungcheol grumbled tiredly, his voice trailing off for a moment before he went silent. “ _ Wait...is - oh my god, did something happen? Is Chan okay? What’s going -  _ ”

 

“Hyung, we took him to the hospital.” Soonyoung interrupted, his voice nearly cracking as he spoke. Wonwoo squeezed Soonyoung’s hand. “He’s in surgery right now. They - they have to take his appendix out.”

 

“ _ Soonyoung- _ ”

 

“But he’s fine, hyung. They said that they do this procedure all the time and he’s gonna be fine.” Wonwoo told him, taking the phone for a moment so he could say that. Soonyoung nodded, more to convince himself, since Seungcheol couldn’t even see him.

 

“ _ Why didn’t you tell me? That’s really serious, Soonyoung, you can’t just - _ ”

 

Soonyoung could hear Seungcheol’s voice shake with oncoming tears. He was trying to stay quiet, he was trying to keep it together, but he couldn’t. Soonyoung understood his pain so much that it nearly hurt him just to hear it.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, hyung,” Soonyoung said in a small, shaky voice. “You have no idea how sorry I am.”

 

Seungcheol’s silence hurt more than anything else, but Soonyoung knew he couldn’t blame him. None of them had ever been admitted to the hospital for something like this before. For surgery. It was terrifying to even think about, especially for Seungcheol, who didn’t know all of the details, Who wasn’t there to see it happen. Soonyoung wished he could apologize a million times over, but that wouldn’t fix anything.

 

“Hyung, the operation should be over soon, and they said that if it goes well we can take him home soon. You don’t need to come up here.” Wonwoo told him, taking the phone once again. Soonyoung kept his head hung low, and Wonwoo squeezed it again. God, he was so thankful that Wonwoo was there. “You can tell the others if you want, but just stay home and try to sleep. We already let the managers know and they’re on the way here. We’ll let you know as soon as we’re on the way back with him.”

 

Junhui hugged Soonyoung sort of out of nowhere, but honestly, Junhui needed that hug as much as Soonyoung did. 

 

“ _ Okay, _ ” Seungcheol said after a few moments of silence, his voice shakier than before. He was trying so hard to stay level-headed - Soonyoung knew better than anyone that Seungcheol wanted nothing more than to speed over to the hospital as soon as possible. One of his kids was hurting, a lot, and he wanted nothing more than to protect him. But he understood why he shouldn’t. “ _ Tell Channie I love him. Okay? I love all of you. A lot. _ ”

 

Soonyoung saw how Wonwoo chewed his lip. “We love you too, hyung.”

 

“ _ I’ll...I’ll see you later. _ ”

 

And he hung up.

 

“He sounded so angry,” Soonyoung murmured, his eyes never moving up from the floor.

 

“Maybe he is angry, but he’s scared, too,” Wonwoo told him. “Just, think about if you were in his position. You’d feel the same way. Probably less controlled, but, you know.”

 

Soonyoung nodded. He knew Wonwoo was tempted to say more - scold him, even, but he didn’t. Wonwoo probably knew how much Soonyoung was already beating himself up about everything, and he decided to end the conversation there.

 

Soonyoung leaned into Wonwoo and gave a tiny sigh.

 

* * *

 

 

Chan was halfway aware of a weird, dull feeling in his abdomen when his eyes started to open.

 

It kind of reminded him of how he felt that morning, and for a moment, he wanted to groan. It was probably going to start hurting more soon. He’d probably start feeling sick soon. Was every night just going to be like this now?

 

He realized he was sitting up, though, and that didn’t quite make any sense. He didn’t recall ever waking up in his bed sitting up - he didn’t really recall ever doing that in general. And the more awake he became, the more things he noticed. A hand was squeezing his. Whatever he was in was  _ moving _ , and he was wearing a seatbelt.

 

Wait, was he in the car?

 

His eyes shot open, and he jerked away from whoever was sitting beside him for a moment. It kind of hurt his side to do that, but he tried not to let it show.

 

When his eyes finally focused on his surroundings, he found he really was in a car. That was odd. He didn’t remember going anywhere or agreeing on going somewhere.

 

“Channie? You awake?” A voice asked from beside him, and Chan nearly flinched again - but it was just Junhui, sitting close to him and squeezing his hand. He looked  _ insanely  _ worried, but he was smiling at the same time. “We’re on the way home. Don’t worry.” Junhui said very softly.

 

“Where were we?” Chan murmured back in a whisper, unsure why Junhui was so quiet in the first place - until, he looked around to find the rest of the car either drifting off or dead asleep.

 

“The hospital, Channie. You got surgery,” Junhui reminded him, and Chan felt a lump forming in his throat as all of the memories began to flood back into his head. All the ugly crying he’d done in front of his hyungs, and the vomiting.  _ God,  _ the vomiting. He could still feel the burning in his throat from it. He was so glad all of that was over.

 

He brought a hand to the sore spot on his belly, feeling what must have been some kind of bandage or gauze pressed over it. He gave a shaky sigh, and as soon as he did, Junhui put his hand over Chan’s. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Junhui murmured, his voice sounding a little strained like he’d been crying - or was about to start. “I was so worried about you. We all were...”

 

Chan chewed on his lip. He must have put his hyungs through a lot of hurt tonight.  
  


Junhui must’ve noticed the change in Chan’s expression, because as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Junhui was hugging him - carefully, but tightly at the same time. Like he was afraid to let go. Chan hugged him back without any hesitation because honestly, he needed something to hold onto. He really, really hoped one of them would sleep in his bed with him tonight. He didn’t know if he could sleep alone after everything that had happened.

 

He spotted Hansol in one of the seats in the row in front of him, clearly asleep. Chan wished he could hug him too. He was the one who kept their hyungs level headed through all of this. And Wonwoo, too, he was sure Soonyoung would’ve done some crazy things if Wonwoo wasn’t there to keep him in line. And Soonyoung. Chan might be dead without Soonyoung.

 

He really wanted to hug all of them right now.

 

“Hey, baby, don’t cry. It’s okay...you’re okay now,” Junhui promised him as soon as he heard Chan hiccup through some oncoming tears. “That’s all that matters.”

 

As soon as they got back home, Junhui helped Chan out of the car, and Soonyoung hugged Chan so hard that it kind of hurt - Wonwoo had to remind him that Chan had just gone through a surgery, and that being too rough with him would not only make him feel bad but could reopen his stitches. Chan appreciated the reminder for Soonyoung, but honestly, he would take any hug he could get right now. No matter how badly it hurt.

 

After Wonwoo and Hansol had hugged him too, Junhui lifted him back up again and helped carry him inside of the dorms.

 

He nearly fell asleep in Junhui’s arms. He was exhausted, really. All he wanted was to be back in bed and sleep for three days, but as soon as he heard Seungcheol’s voice, he was wide awake again.

 

He couldn’t really comprehend what he was saying - he was speaking to one of their managers, and Soonyoung too - probably about the whole situation. It was too hushed for Chan to even attempt to pay attention to.

 

“I’m gonna put you down on the couch for a minute. They wanted you to take some pain meds as soon as you got home.” Junhui told him softly, carefully lowering him down to the same couch he had been on before the whole fiasco started.

 

Junhui disappeared, and Chan tried to follow him with his eyes when he wandered behind the couch to where the others were in the kitchen, but he didn’t even have the energy to move his head, at that point. He was truly exhausted. It felt worse than the time he had spent nearly twenty-four hours straight practicing, and he hadn’t even done anything.

 

Minghao appeared soon after, a glass of water in one hand and a pretty large pill in the other, which must have been for the pain, like Junhui said. He handed the pill to Chan, and once he got a better look at him, he realized that Minghao looked absolutely spent. As soon as he noticed the red rim around his eyes, Chan felt his chest tighten - he had never seen Minghao cry. He didn’t even know that was something that Minghao did. Had he really cried because of Chan?

 

Junhui said something to Minghao as the latter tried to hand Chan the glass of water - Chan had heard them speak their native language long enough to understand that the word meant something like  _ be careful _ . “Hyung, I’m not made of glass or something,” Chan said as he made eye contact with Jun, feeling a little bad for interrupting as Minghao held the glass of water to Chan’s lips, waiting for Chan to take the pill. “I can hold the glass.”

 

Minghao looked at Junhui as if waiting for his approval, and Junhui just gave him a little smile and shrugged - so he decided to hand Chan the glass.

 

Chan was a little too quick in downing the pill, maybe to show off or prove that he was fine, and he ended up sort of choking on the water. Minghao’s eyes were wild and he made a swift move to take the glass from him and place it on the table. His attention was back to Chan with a hand on his back, fretting over him, but quiet.

 

“I’m okay - I’m good,” Chan promised him, trying to clear his throat. “I’m good.”

 

Minghao didn’t look convinced. His eyes were still flooded with concern, and as Chan studied them again, he couldn’t help but notice their red rims.

 

Just when Chan was about to point it out, Minghao leaned forward to hug him, his face buried in Chan’s shoulder. Chan couldn't even remember the last time that Minghao had hugged him. He wasn’t really a touchy person, so this wasn’t a common thing for him, and Chan cherished it even more because of that. He had to wonder for a second if Minghao knew Chan was going to ask him if he cried, and maybe he just hugged him to prevent that from happening. “I’m sorry I didn’t drink the medicine you gave me.”

 

When Minghao pulled out of the hug, he was smiling, and Chan couldn’t help but feel relieved. “I don’t think that stuff would have helped much anyway, honestly. Especially since you had to have an organ removed,” Minghao told him, and Chan had to giggle too.

 

After a few minutes, Junhui urged Minghao to go to bed - he had been up with Seungcheol for the past few hours, being the only one at home, aside from Seungcheol, to know about the hospital situation. Minghao hugged Chan one more time, told him he wishes him well, and disappeared into the room he shared with Mingyu.

 

When the managers left, and Seungcheol came around the couch to finally make eye contact with Chan, he burst into tears.

 

Chan reached out to hug him first, and he could feel Seungcheol shaking in his grip. It hurt Chan’s heart so badly to see him like that, to know he was the reason Seungcheol was falling apart like this. The feeling started when he saw Minghao’s eyes, but to see one of them sobbing like this in front of him, that was far worse.

 

“I’m really sorry, hyung,” Chan murmured quietly into Seungcheol’s shoulder, feeling himself start to shake too.

 

“Please don’t be sorry, Chan,” Seungcheol told him, squeezing him a little bit harder when he said that. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now…”

 

He sat with Seungcheol for a while, and almost drifted off when he leaned his head on his leader’s shoulder. He knew that Seungcheol needed some kind of reassurance that everything was fine now. He didn’t want to leave Chan to go to bed just yet - his sleep-deprived brain was still trying to take everything in, and Chan gave him the time. He owed him that, at least.

 

“I’ll take you to your bed, okay? You look exhausted,” Seungcheol told him softly, and Chan had to nod. He was. Today had been the longest day of his life. He didn’t even know what time it was.

 

Chan wanted to stand and walk on his own, but Junhui urged him not to, telling him that he had nearly slammed his face into the floor when he tried that at the hospital. Chan didn’t remember that, but his ears burned red from embarrassment anyway.

 

So Junhui lifted him up again, and with Seungcheol and Soonyoung walking behind him, he was back in his room. Back in his  _ bed.  _ As Juhui slowly lowered him back onto it, Chan felt all of the tension bleed from his body, like his bed was truly the most comfortable place in the world right now.

 

He watched Seungcheol hug Junhui, and then Soonyoung, but a little longer with the latter. Seungcheol pressed a kiss to Chan’s forehead and wished him goodnight, and he disappeared from the room.

 

Soonyoung didn’t waste any time climbing into bed beside Chan, saying something in the cutest voice he could muster about how Chan was his favorite maknae. Chan stuck his tongue to tease him, but god, he really loved Soonyoung so much. He loved his hyungs more than words could ever describe, and Soonyoung seemed to feel that, too - he wrapped his arms around Chan, his body relaxing too, as if finding comfort knowing that Chan was safe in his arms.

 

Chan drifted off within seconds, finding comfort in the same.

**Author's Note:**

> apologies regarding the inaccuracy with how Chan went home too soon following the surgery - it's a liberty i took to move the story in a certain direction~
> 
> thank you for reading!! ♥ if you liked this one, be on the lookout for more fics from the requests i'm filling out~
> 
> i appreciate feedback so comment if you'd like ♥ thank you!! talk to me or send me requests on my new tumblr [here](https://infinityxu.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you wanna! ♥


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